Plastic container



Dec, 9, 1952 w. F. STAHL 2,620,944

PLASTIC CONTAINER Filed Jan. 21, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllll|||||||llllllllllllllllllllllllllDec. 9, 1952 w. F. STAHL 2,620,944

PLASTIC CONTAINER F-iled Jan. 21. 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Hlllllllllatentecl Dec. 9, 1952 UNI TED i STAT ES; PAT EN OFFICE PLASTICCONTAINER William -F. Stahl, Kenilworth; Ill. Applicationalanuary 21,1949, Serial No. 711,872

This invention relates to plasticcontainers; .in particular, it concernsa package or bagwhich may be economically formed from thermoplasticmaterial and, which is particularly adapted for receivingmayonnaise,.peanut butter, and other semi-liquid materials, particularlyfoodstuffs.

The advantages of plasticas .a material-for containers have been, widelyrecognized by in,- dustry. 'The various plastic materials. availabletoday are inexpensive and well.. a'dapted for mass production, and atthe same time they arefphysically strong and .non-lporoua, sothatplastic packages can efiectively protect-contents against,contamination, moistureaccess, and other causes.

of deterioration.

As containers for foods, however, plastic pack,-

ages have inthe past had one serious defect.

When such. packages have once been opened to permitpartial. removal; oftheircontents, nols'atisfactory temporary closure for retaining andstoring the remaining contents hasbeen possible. This is particularlytrue with respect to semiliquid foods, such as mayonnaise, peanutbutter,

marshmallow cream, and, other products of that character.

I have provided an improved. plastic container which. is admirablyadapted for packaging. such substances, since it will preserve themeffectively for an indefinite periodibefor'ethe container. is firstopened. and. will .providean, effective guard against both leakage andcontamination during the interval. following thefirst-opening of'thecontainer and during which its, contents) are be-- ing graduallyconsumed.

It is an object of my. inventionto providean inexpensivecontainerpossessing. the inherent advantages of conventional .plasticcontainers and having. in addition. an effective closure. means for usevafter. the, initial. opening, of the container.

Another object of .my invention is to provide,

.- for a plastic bag, an effective closure means which may be usedrepeatedly afterlth initial opening of the bag and which does not addsubstantially to the cost-of the container.

Still another object of' my invention is to provide a plastic bag,having aneffective closure means suitable for repeated use, which iswell adapted to massproduction-and whichis accordingly little moreexpensive thanconventional 2 Claims. (Cl. 222-407) Fig. 3 is a view ofthe same container after it has been re-closed for temporary storage ofthe 2 remaining contents. Fig; 4 ma view in section; taken along vtheline 4--4 of Fig. 1; Fig: 5 is a viewpf the. Fig. 2 container, in sideelevation, showing more (clearly the manner in which the bag is openedfor partial removal of itscontents; Fig. 6 is a'fragmentary sectionalview showing an alternative means of. forming. theclosure; member on thbag. inaccordance with my in: vention. Figs. 7, '8, and 9' are views ofa plastic container employing my invention wherein the closure memberisapplied only to a corner of thejbag; Fig5'7 shows the bag asfully-sealed; Fig; 8 shows thebag' as opened for partial re; moval ofthe contents'and Fig; 9 showsthebag" withthe closure member folded overfor tem'eporarystorage of the'remaining' contents. Figs:-10.and,,11show.a bag in which the invention" is 'appliedwithi .the'closure member al'ong'the side rather than across the top; Fig." .10"shows the bagas fully sealed and Fig; lltshowsythe" bag withtheclosurenmemberfolded over .for: temporary. storage after a; part of the;contents have been removed. g c

As shown iniFigs'. 1-5- inclusiva myinvention comprisesaplastic'bagl0,1the,top and bottom" of which have been sealed by thermalsealingafter filling. In ,thefigures, the bottom seal of the bag isdenoted H and, the. top' seal is de' noted l2. A closure member.3,consisting. of a folded-over stripflof metal foil; is;sealed to thetop .of bag In. Infthe' m .oammnve nom shown in Figs. 1-5 inclusive,the:closure member.- l3 has haditsj inner surfacecoated-bya layerofthermoplastic material which. has been, in turn, caused to form anintegral bondwith theplastic'material of the bag proper. This'ire' -i"sults, asshown best in Fig.v 4, in a thickening" of the? plastic wallbeneath the member-"l3; as denoted 13a in Fig; 4; 'It will be noted thatthe sides of member l3'are sealed-to the outer surface. of the bag In toa point substantially 'beyond, the limits of seal l2." 'Ihisvmaybe-bestseen in Figs.'4and 5. s

For the" convenience of the user, a line I4 may be'printed orotherwise-placed on'the-outer face of closure member- I3 -toguidethe-user of the bag with respect to making an initial cut for. opening-the:bag and partially removing-its contents. out line l4 may be placed;on -theclosure member across one corner thereof as shown on Figil; itshould .be placed in a position such 'thatijit traverses a portionofbag- Hl'belowseal l2." s

A fold line 5 maybe, placed on .theclosur'e. member. 13; .it maybesubstantially parallel'to out line" 14' and should be'substantially.further. fromthe'cornerl,

In the" operation of myinvention, .the'person desiring to! remove'aportion of the bagsi'contentscuts'off, with a' knife'or a pair ofscissors; a corner. of theclosure member and bag,,follow-. mg; forthepurpose cut. -line ,l4, if such a line has be n; provided'This'jresults..'in a cut edge Ida which contains an aperture [6 producedas a result of the trimming away of a small part of bag Ii! below theseal l2. Such portion of the contents as are to be used at the time canbe squeezed from bag through aperture It. When the bag is to be returnedto temporary storage, as in a refrigerator, the closure member I3 isfolded sharply over, thus producing a fold line I50. which effectivelyseals off the out line Ma and the aperture [6 from the interior of thebag [0. This fold may, of course, be taken along fold line [5, if such aline has been provided on the closure member.

The closure accomplished by fold line I50. is a good temporary seal,since the metal foil employed for closure member I3 has practically noelasticity and will retain a sharp fold for an indefinite period. Theproperties of such foil are Well-known, since it is widely used in themanufacture of tooth paste tubes and like products.

In Fig. 6 an alternative construction of my invention is shown; theprinciples of operation are identical to those of the Fig. 1 embodiment,but in this form of my invention the metal foil closure member I3 iscrimped on the top of bag It by mechanical pressure, rather than bybeing sealed thermally to the outer surface of the bag itself, as in theFig. 1 form. Normally, the crimping technique of manufacture will callfor use of a heavier gauge metal foil than is required when the foil issealed thermally to the bag. The initial opening of the bag by cuttingand folding over of the closure member for temporary sealing after theinitial opening may be accomplished with the Fig. 6 form of theinvention just as with the Fig. 1 form. The effectiveness of the sealachieved by the folded closure member is substantially the same ineither form of the invention.

In Figs. 7-11 inclusive, I have shown alternative orientations of theclosure member with respect to the bag proper. It will be understoodthat these variations may be constructed with either the crimpingtechnique shown in Fig. 6 Or the sealing technique of Fig. 4 as themeans employed for uniting the closure member and the bag.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9, the closure member is shown as covering only onecorner of the bag It. This permits the use of less metal foil than isrequired to extend the closure member entirely across the top, and itaccordingly represents a certain measure of economy in construction.Fig. 8 shows the Fig. 7 bag after the initial cutting for bag-openinghas been made, and Fig. 9 shows the same bag after it has been foldedalong line I50. for temporary closure.

Figs. 10 and 11 show a bag wherein the closure member I3 has beenaffixed along one side, rather than across the top as in Fig. 1. Fig. 10shows the bag before initial opening, while Fig. 11 shows it astemporarily sealed by folding after partial removal of the contents.

Determination of the position and size of the closure member describedherein will be determined in any particular packaging operation by thephysical properties of the material to be packed and the portion of thebag which should be mechanically reinforced. If mechanical reinforcementis not important, the small closure member of Fig. 7 may be desirable,because of its economy in the use of metal foil. If it is consideredparticularly desirable to make the bag semi-rigid vertically, then theform of Fig. 10 may be advisable. In most cases, it is believed that theapplication of the closure member to the top of the bag, as in Fig. 1,will be most satisfactory. The principle involved is identical in allthree cases, and the selection of one of the variations shown, or ofsome other variation, is entirely a matter of choice.

While I have in this specification, for purposes of illustration, shownmy invention in certain specific forms, it will be understood that manyvariations in details can be made by persons skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A container adapted for packaging semifluids, comprising a plasticbag closed along at least two edges thereof that meet to form a bacorner, a closure member of thin bendable metal having side portionsdisposed on each side of said bag and enclosing at least said corner ofthe bag, said member being coated with an adhesive and being bonded tosaid bag and having edge portions extending outwardly from each of thebag edges also bonded together, said closure member being equipped witha out line extending obliquely across the bag corner whereby severingalong the out line provides a reinforced discharge opening for the bag,and said closure member also bein equipped with a fold line lyinginwardly of said out line whereby folding of said closure member alongthe fold line seals ofi said opening from the interior of the bag.

A container adapted for packaging semifluids, comprising a thermoplasticbag having at least one sealed edge and being closed along another edgemeeting with the sealed edge to provide a bag corner, a metal foilclosure member having side portions disposed on each side of said bagand enclosing at least said corner of the has, said member having sideportions extending inwardly of the sealed portion of said sealed edgeand being coated with a thermoplastic material and heat-sealedintegrally to said bag, said member also having edge portions extendingoutwardly from each of said bag edges and the abutting sides thereofheat-sealed together, said closure member being equipped with a out lineextending obliquely across the bag corner and beyond the sealed portionof said sealed edge whereby severing along the out line provides areinforced discharge opening for the bag, and said closure member alsobeing equipped with a fold line lying inwardly of said cut line wherebyfolding of said closure member along the fold line seals off saidopening from the interior of the bag.

WILLIAM F. STAHL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,767,770 Olsen June 24, 19301,910,789 Brady May 23, 1933 2,093,974 Farmer Sept. 21, 1937 2,093,978Farmer Sept. 21, 1937 2,333,587 Salfisberg Nov. 2, 1943 2,369,716Coghill Feb. 20, 1945 2,400,39 Clunan May 14, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 392,519 Great Britain Aug. 13, 1931

